Flawless
by Shadow Rebirth
Summary: [One-shot. Character study.] To Sephiroth, it was only natural. Angeal had called it obsessive. Genesis had called it controlling. But it was Zack who'd called it organized.


Title: Flawless  
Author: Shadow Rebirth  
Rating: T/PG-13  
Word Count: 900  
First Written: May 13, 2009  
Last Edited: May 13, 2009  
Posted: May 13, 2009  
Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. This work has not been endorsed by Square Enix or any of the others holding copyright or license to the Final Fantasy games, movies, and products. No connection is implied or should be inferred. Other names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. The author receives no financial gain from its production or distribution.  
Summary: One-shot. Character study. To Sephiroth, it was only natural. Angeal had called it obsessive. Genesis had called it controlling. But it was Zack who'd called it organized.

A/N: I needed some practice writing Sephiroth for something I'm working on, and this is how it ended up. Usually when I do something like this (which I tend to do quite often) I'll scrap it, which basically means filing it away in the back of my computer, never to see the light of day again. I kind of like how this turned out though, so I figured that I might as well post it. Oh, and this is supposed to take place sometime not long after Angeal's death. Enjoy!

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Flawless

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The kitchen was absolutely spotless. There wasn't a single a single piece of silverware out of place nor anything at all on the counters. The floor was a pure white as well, free from any grime or dust. Even the light above seemed to sparkle abnormally.

Sephiroth expected nothing less. For him, it was only natural. A pen lying on the counter would have bothered him enough to get up in the middle of the night. He'd always been that way—excessively clean, that is.

Angeal had called it obsessive.

Perhaps it came from being raised by a scientist. As a child, his room had always been immaculate and the habit had only grown as he'd moved on into adulthood.

Sephiroth's need for order also carried over into his military life. As a commander, it was very useful, even if it made him seem like a stickler to his troops. It had certainly saved lives more than one time during the war, and not just his own.

Genesis had called it controlling.

But all of that didn't help him now. Quite the opposite, in fact, as he found himself unable to do anything more than stand and stare at the bright red splotch on the floor. A muscle in his cheek might have been twitching; he couldn't tell.

Beside him, SOLDIER 1st Class Zak Fair had frozen, a broken can in his hand. There were a few drops of the same red liquid slowly dripping onto the floor, adding to the pool bit by bit. Sephiroth could have sworn at that each drop impacted loudly enough to drown out the noisy traffic outside.

After a moment, Zack gulped deeply. "Er…Sorry, sir," he mumbled. His eyes were darting around, desperate to look anywhere but at his superior.

"…Why do you have fruit punch with you anyway, Fair?"

"Uh, well, I haven't had any lunch yet and—" He literally jumped when Sephiroth sighed heavily, prompting the general to do so again. "Umm, I'll clean it up…!"

Sephiroth flinched as more red droplets splattered on the walls as the black haired man spun around. "Don't!" he said sharply. He breathed in deeply when Zack froze again. "Just…don't," he said in a softer tone. "I'll take care of it."

Hesitant, but not daring to disobey, Zack stood back and watched helplessly as Sephiroth began to clean up the mess. He was unable to keep from gaping, however, when the general literally got down on his hands and knees with his sleeves rolled up around his elbows and began scrubbing the floor.

"Sir, I can--!"

"_Fair_."

The rest of the sentence withered and died on Zack's lips. Sephiroth was one of those people who you just couldn't talk back to, no matter who you were. Zack wouldn't be surprised if even President Shinra quailed under his gaze.

It took Sephiroth much effort and three intervals of using heavy-duty bleach to completely erase the spill. Even then his sharp eyes could still see a faint red stain in the linoleum, much to his dissatisfaction. Zack had long since opened all the windows in the house, unable to deal with the strong smell.

"Sorry about that," Zack muttered when Sephiroth had joined him in the apartment's living room. "It really was an accident."

He winced at Sephiroth's silence and stared around the room, looking for anything to change the topic. After only a moment however, he blinked in surprise.

"You're so…organized," he said with awe coloring his tone. "I've never been able to get my apartment this clean!"

Sephiroth just stared at him. Organized? He'd been called many things in his life, but organized was not one of them.

"No wonder you always look immaculate," Zack continued, unaware of Sephiroth's gaze, "You have to in order to fit in with this place! …I, uh, guess stains really bother you then?" The younger SOLDIER rubbed the back of his neck embarrassedly. "Sorry, again. You must work really hard to keep your apartment the way it is, even with all your other duties…"

Sephiroth nodded slowly. "I…suppose so."

"So…What's the type of stain you hate the most then?"

Again Sephiroth was caught by surprise. Trust Zack to make small talk about _cleaning_ of all things. Suddenly he could understand what had drawn Angeal to the kid, other than his apparently outstanding fighting abilities.

"Blood," Sephiroth replied after a moment of contemplation. "Blood is the most difficult to get out. That's a part of the reason why I choose to wield a long blade like the Masamune; it widens the distance between my opponent and I, lessening the chance to for me to get splattered.

"I'd never thought of it that way before," Zack commented, surprised. "It's true that it would work though." Suddenly he let out a laugh. At Sephiroth's enquiring glance, he said, "It's just…everyone always says that you're such a flawless person. I guess I just never really expected it to be so true!"

To Zack's surprise, Sephiroth gave him a humorless smile. "I'd hardly call myself 'flawless'."

"That doesn't stop the rest of Midgar from doing so."

"The rest of Midgar has never met me, have they? I can tell you now that 'flawless' is something that I will never be."

"Why not?" Zack asked curiously. "Wouldn't you want to be?"

"No," he answered slowly. "I think…I think it would drive me insane."


End file.
